1. How do you drink your coffee?
Markus: If I have time, I like to make a cappuccino. If it must be quick, it's a double espresso.
Peter: It's quite similar for me, I like a delicious cappuccino. Recently, I've also started drinking oat milk, but I'm still looking for the perfect alternative to cow's milk.
2. Peter, do you have a favorite book?
Blue Ocean Strategy, if we're talking about business books. The book encourages you to look at business models from a different angle and to position yourself in an oversaturated market in such a way that you virtually create a new market and thus become incomparable. The service business is traditionally a Red Ocean, but it can also be differentiated.
If we're talking about fiction, then it's Daniel Kehlmann's book "Measuring the World". His writing is simply fantastic. So clear and good and the subject is simply fascinating.
3. You’ve been working in your new roles as jambit's advisory board for six months now. What exactly is the advisory board doing?
Markus: At the moment it's still a bit of a handover, in future it’ll be more of an advisory and strategic support role. We would also like to help establish contacts and links. In addition to the advisory board, we’re still the owners of the company, which means that we’re involved in certain decisions.
Peter: We currently have a regular weekly meeting with the CEOs. The basis for this is our joint Kanban board. We want to reduce the frequency of meetings in the future and work with monthly reporting by Franz and Thomas.
4. How has your life changed since you handed over the CEO positions?
Peter: I'm now in the office only two days a week, which are packed with meetings. I couldn’t implement as many things from my private backlog as I had hoped, but that’ll certainly come.
I’ve tried to maintain my daily structure. I get up at around 6 a.m. every day. My day starts with a workout, then I make breakfast for the family. That's a good start in the day for me. And I can't do without mentally challenging topics either. I think it's important and exciting to engage with the network you've built up over the years. We can also make a good contribution to jambit at this level.
Markus: Like Peter, I start my day with a family breakfast together. But my alarm doesn't go off until 7 a.m., which is enough. (smiles)
Apart from that, I now have more time for the mountains, mountain biking, playing tennis, mountaineering, ski tours and, of course, for my family. But my children are older and very independent, so they don't want to do that much with me anymore.
5. What’s your highlight of the 24 years at jambit?
Peter: There are soooo many things. Looking back, the offices we opened are very interesting. Each subsidiary had its own charm and its own coolness factor, but it has become more professional with every step. The way the whole organization has evolved with tools and processes and how we were able to achieve more and more independence from individual sectors and customers through growth.
Markus: If I relate this to events, for me it was wok driving in the bobsleigh track.
Apart from that, I have a very specific memory that I would like to share as a highlight. Once, shortly before Christmas, a client came to our office, and I had a long conversation with an applicant. After 1.5 hours of waiting, I thought I had surely driven the client away, but he was still sitting there waiting for me. He really wanted to give us the BMW model signed with "Thank you" and thank us personally for working together over the past year. You never forget something like that!
Another thing that has always motivated me is the employees, who have developed really well. From a super nerd to an enthusiastic, communicative colleague to a manager. These kinds of developments always inspire me again and again...
6. Did you always want to start a company?
Markus: I just went along with it. I think Peter always wanted to start a company.
Peter: We realized freelance projects ourselves, so it wasn't a far step and we were familiar with the business. It was also during the dotcom bubble, which burst pretty quickly. In retrospect, it was a good decision not to take external capital. It was simply the linear and self-financed way to build up a service business.
Markus: We simply took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself. At the time, we were both working as freelancers. The dotcom owner approached us and said: "Freelancing doesn't always work. You have two options: Either you become a permanent employee and get shares, or you set up a company and get a job from me." We jumped in head over heels and took some risks that we shouldn't have taken, such as being personally liable for a rental contract for 5 years. (Laughs)
However, it’s sometimes easier to start a company if you don't have a family and no financial obligations. Immediately after our studies, we had no living expenses, we weren't used to a standard of living. We just invested our working hours.
7. Markus, which advice would you give to future applicants?
Do what fascinates and inspires you. Not the job that offers the best career opportunities. This way, you have fun with everything and don't have to pretend. Then you do it well and inspire others. Success usually comes naturally.
In principle, this also applies to job interviews. I can only recommend staying authentic and not pretending. A little preparation and inform about the company in advance can't hurt either.
8. Which tip would you give your former self?
Markus: Take the opportunity to go abroad for a longer period of time. Take it early, because you don't know what's coming. Through jambit, I was blocked for a long time. Now, I'm also limited due to my family of course.
Peter: I would advise myself to approach many topics with more self-confidence. That’ll also bring success.
Sounds interesting? We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Just contact our recruiter Alisha.
